During a visit to Orlando, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald on Friday called its new medical center here a breakthrough, but said that the department is taking note of lessons learned from its construction delays and issues in Colorado.

"Because of some of the problems we've had in Denver, we've asked the Corps of Engineers to come and look at our process as well as help us fix them, and we're working closely with them to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen going forward," said McDonald during a brief news conference at the VA in Lake Nona.

Some of the lessons, he said, include "setting up a review committee that includes engineers and architects, not just architects. Making sure the design is 35 percent set before we go out to bid out ... We also have to shorten the time, because when you start one of these building and it opens 5 years later, the demographics of veterans is very different, particularly if you're fighting a war at the time."

A man looks over the Affordable Care Act signup page on the HealthCare.gov website in New York in this photo illustration

MIKE SEGAR, REUTERS

(MIKE SEGAR, REUTERS)

Federal officials announced on Friday a special enrollment period for people who didn't sign up for health insurance in 2014 and were unaware that they would face a tax penalty until they started filling out their taxes this year.

The enrollment period is from March 15 to April 30 and takes effect the first day of the following month.

Eligible consumers will still owe a fee for the months that they were uninsured and didn't receive an exemption in 2014 and 2015, according to The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (A new tool helps individuals decide of they're exempt from a tax penalty.)

Consumers who are eligible for health insurance this year and don't sign up for it will face a tax penalty, which is $325 per adult or 2 percent of annual income, whichever is more. The tax penalty for 2014 is $95 per adult or 1 percent of income.

According to CMS, to be eligible for the special enrollment period, individuals should live in states that have a federal health insurance...

HeartMate II with Pocket Controller (Reprinted with the permission of Thoratec Corporation)

HeartMate II with Pocket Controller (Reprinted with the permission of Thoratec Corporation)

A left ventricular assist device, a mechanical pump of sorts for a weak heart, was recently on display in a Florida Hospital conference room to be seen and touched by health professionals like emergency responders and emergency room personnel.

Laid out on a table, the device can be intimidating. There's a metal pump the size of a small tangerine that's attached to tubing. There is also a small computer controller, a power pack and a reserve power pack, each of which is roughly the size of a thin paperback. The pump is attached to the heart's left ventricle during surgery, and patients carry the controller and the computer packs around their waist and on their sides.

Patients who receive an LVAD have end-stage heart failure. Initially the device was mostly used to help patients live while waiting for a heart transplant, but more and more, patients receive an LVAD permanently (destination therapy).

A man looks over the Affordable Care Act signup page on the HealthCare.gov website in New York in this photo illustration

MIKE SEGAR, REUTERS

(MIKE SEGAR, REUTERS)

By the official end of health insurance open enrollment on Feb. 15, nearly 193,000 people in Central Florida had selected a plan in the federal marketplace, according to numbers released on Wednesday.

Florida led the nation with 1.6 million people selecting a plan since open enrollment began on Nov. 15.

The Feb. 15 deadline for enrollment has been extended for a week for individuals who can show that they tried to get in the system but couldn't.

Meanwhile, consumers who have a life-changing event can enroll in a plan between now and the next open enrollment period. These special circumstances include losing work-based coverage, ending of COBRA coverage, aging out of parents' plan, having a baby, getting married, moving outside of current plan's coverage area or leaving incarceration.

You can call 877-564-5031, e-mail cflnavigator@gmail.com or visit coveringcfl.net to set up an appointment with a licensed navigator in Central Florida.